Generally, clothes treatment apparatuses may include, for example, a washing machine, a drying machine, and a so-called styler, and the washing machine may include a drying function. The washing machine may be broadly divided into a pulsator-type washing machine, in which a drum is vertically upright (i.e. a laundry opening is located in the upper side of a cabinet), and a drum-type washing machine, in which a drum is oriented horizontally (i.e. a laundry opening is located in the front side of a cabinet).
Such a clothes treatment apparatus may be operated via manipulation of an operating unit, which is provided in the cabinet of the laundry treatment apparatus, after, for example, an object to be treated and a detergent are introduced into the clothes treatment apparatus. Recently, with regard to the use of the clothes treatment apparatus, study on clothes treatment apparatuses capable of minimizing user inconvenience and attaining a cleaner and simpler external appearance is underway.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a conventional clothes treatment apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional clothes treatment apparatus 1 includes a cabinet 2 defining the external appearance of the apparatus, a door 3 configured to open or close the cabinet 2, an operating unit (or control knob) 4 configured to operate the clothes treatment apparatus 1, and a detergent introduction unit or tray 5 configured to supply at least one of a detergent and a fabric softener into the clothes treatment apparatus 1.
In order to wash clothes using the clothes treatment apparatus 1, a user needs to introduce the clothes into the cabinet 2 in the opened state of the door 3, and then to open the detergent introduction unit 5 so as to introduce at least one of a detergent and a fabric softener. That is, the user needs to open the detergent introduction unit 5 so as to introduce an appropriate amount of detergent and/or fabric softener every time the user operates the clothes treatment apparatus 1. Of course, only one of the detergent and/or the fabric softener may be introduced depending on, for example, the washing course that is selected.
The conventional clothes treatment apparatus 1 described above is problematic or inconvenient because the user needs to open the detergent introduction unit 5 and directly introduce the detergent and/or the fabric softener every time the user operates the clothes treatment apparatus 1. In addition, it is problematic or inconvenient to directly adjust an appropriate amount of detergent depending on, for example, the course selected by the user, the type of clothes to be treated, and the amount of clothes, prior to introducing the detergent into the detergent introduction unit 5. In addition, because the detergent introduction unit 5 is provided at the exterior of the cabinet 2, the external appearance of the clothes treatment apparatus 1 does not have a neat appearance.